Gleason Masonic Lodge #330 has a long history, dating back to 1867, when
its charter was first
issued. During this span of almost 150 years, the
Masonic Lodge has been an integral part of the
local community.

Over the years, the Masonic Lodge has met in several locations.
Its initial meeting location was in the old Masonic Male and
Female Institute, a two story brick building erected in 1904
(across the street from the Bandy - Jeter house),
to replace a private school building which had burned down in 1902.

Gleason's first public school opened in 1906 in this
same building, with the Masonic Lodge continuing to hold their meetings
upstairs in this building until it burned sometime later.
For many years the Lodge met on the second floor of the
old Carl Parks building, located on Main Street, where the Gleason
Library was then located.

Since
1991, the Masonic Lodge has been located at its current site at 202 Main
Street in Gleason, although several changes to the basic structure of
the building have been necessary over time. Most recently, in 2015,
the interior of the building was totally renovated, so as to
provide a modern meeting room, and fellowship hall along with other
amenities.

Since its inception, the Masonic Lodge has been committed to the local community
and actively involved in the
Gleason community in supporting many worthy causes and helping organizations.

A notable example in this regard is providing support each year for the
Gleason
Relay for Life, with funds derived from Lodge members, as well as
supporting this important activity by having members park cars for
those supporting this important event.

During both the Tater Town Special and the "Hometown Christmas"
celebrations this year, members of the Masonic Lodge grilled hamburgers,
cheeseburgers, hotdogs and smoked bologna and sold them to
individuals attending these events. Proceeds from each of these efforts
were contributed to the Gleason Downtown Revitalization fund - to
further enhance the downtown area of the Gleason community.

More recently, the Masonic Lodge picked up where the American Legion
left off and agreed to assume full sponsorship of the Big Brothers
program and their activities in this area.

The Masons strong support of, and commitment to, the Big Brothers program was
clearly
highlighted during the recent Christmas holidays.

Here, they provided
large grocery boxes to some 50 homes in the Gleason community. These
boxes each contained a frozen chicken, a pound of sliced cheese, a half
gallon of whole mile, a pound of dried navy beans, a pound of red
beans, 5 pounds of flour, 5 pounds of corn meal, along with bananas
and other fruits, as well as a 2 lb box of salt, pepper, and seasonings.

They also delivered fruit baskets to some 170
people in the Gleason area that were seniors, either needy, a widow or widower, and/or unemployed or of low income.

It
can be noted that one of the primary goals of Masonry is to "make
better men out of good men".
It is believed that this is best achieved by focusing on strengthening one's
character, improving one's moral and spiritual outlook, promoting
personal responsibility, a belief in God, and by putting these attributes
into practice in daily life. It is believed that, through this process, it
is possible build a better world by building better men to work in their
own communities.

In looking at the works of the Masons of Lodge #330
today, it appears that they are still living up to the strong tradition of those Masons who founded
this Lodge almost a century and a half ago - in terms of their significant contributions to the
local
community. (Thanks to Bill Lynch of Gleason Lodge #330 for his
contributions to this article.)